Chair-tip.



B. BATTEY.

CHAIR TIP.

FIG. 4

WITNESSES INVENTOR P 6 W w 3 UNITED sTArEs PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH E. BATTEY, 0F PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA.

CHAIR-TIP.

Specification. of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 29, 1914.

Application filed March 29, 1913. Serial No. 757,546.

7 ends of furniture legs, and particularly to chair leg tips. The object of the invention is to provide an improved tip which is of simple construction, is inexpensive, and can be readily and quickly applied without special tools to a furniture leg, one in which the cushion or yielding member is protected from injury and wears longer, andone in which the protecting cap has an annular rounded bearing portion resting upon. the floor to prevent denting, scratching, marring or injuring the same.

The invention comprises the construction and arnan ement of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings Figure 1 represents a side elevation of the lower end of a furniture leg, with the invention applied there to; Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation on the line 22, Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a similar view showing the cushion under compression; Fig. 4 is a bottom plan view; and Fig. 5 is a cross section on the line 5-5, Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings, 1 represents the lower end portion of a furniture leg, such as the leg of a table, chair or'the like.- This may be elther round, square, hexagonal or other shape in cross section and is'illustrated as square. 2 represents a cushion or shockabsorbing member, which may be formed of any yielding elastic material, such as. rubber, cork, fiber or the like, but

' is preferabl formed of rubber. v This cushion has a at upper face3 seated against the lower surface or end of'the furniture leg, and is circular in horizontal cross section, as illustrated in Fig. 5, so that its outer surface or wall is cylindrical. The cushion 2 is provided with an axial bore or opening 2 which flares outwardly, as at 5, so as to form a countersink merging into an annular portion 6 having a curved bottom surface.

The bu er 2 is protected by a cap 7 preferably formed of sheet metal with an outer cylindrical wall 8. This wall is of slightly less height than the height of the cushion 2 of which the following is a,

screw '13, of the proper length,

so that the upper edge 9 of the cap is spaced downwardly a short distance below the end of the furniture leg, and is out of contact therewith. Thelower end portion of the cap 7 is curved or arched, as at 10,

to provide an annular rounded bearing portion which rests u on the floor, the central portion of the cap being countersunk or depressed, as at 11, so that its inner surface fits the curved surface of the cushion. Said cap isprovided with an axial aperture.

In applying the tip to a furniture leg the cushion 2 is pushed into the cap 7 and a is passed through the aperture in the cap and the bore 3 of the cushion and is screwedinto the furniture leg 1. N 0 special preparation of the leg. to receive the tip is necessary. The countersunk or depressed portion 11 of the cap forms a socket 14 to receive the screw head 15, this socket being of greater depth than the thickness of the screw head, so that the latter, is substantially buried there- -in with a clearance above the floor and the lower bearing surface 10 of the cap.

The screw 13 is preferably screwed up to place the cushion 2 under slight compression, so that when first applied, the cap 8 is held down against the head of the screw. When, however, the article of furniture is placed in proper position on the floor, or weight is placed thereonsuch as by a person' sitting down upon a chair, the cushion is compressed between the chair leg and cap 8 and the screw 13 moves slightly downwardly through the cap 7. The depth of the socket 14, or the clearance between the screw head and the floor, is made suflicient so that under no' circumstances will the screw head contact with the floor and thereby mar or otherwise injure its finished surface.

The extended annular bearing surface 10 on the'lower end of the cap 7 contacts with the floor at a plurality of points, thereby preventing the possibility of denting or injuring the same, such as occurs with tips having convex surfaces, such as roller or ball casters or convex dome tips. More- 'over, the cylindrical" wall portion of the cap surrounds and protects the cushion from in ury which might be caused by side blows. It also confines the cushion and prevents lateral expansion of the same except in the space between the upper edge 9 of the cap and the chair leg.. The cushion is conse which are of simple construction and can,.

therefore, be made in large quantities at very low cost. The cushion can be made of any suitable material by a molding operation, or may be cut or stamped from sheets.

The cap is formed of sheet metal, such as brass, aluminum, or steel, and may be made in its entirety by a single stamping and shaping operation. The screw is an ordinary stock screw which may be bought in the open market at a low price. Moreover, the tip can b easily secured to the furniture leg or remo ed therefrom without special tools or preparation of the leg, the screw head is always accessible.

I What I claim is A tip for furniture legs, comprising a cylindrical cushioning member formed of resilient material and having an axial bore and adapted to be seated against the end of the furniture leg, the lower portion of said member being countersunk, a metallic cupshaped cap therefor having an annular bearing portion adapted to contact with and slide on the floor, a cylindrical portion surrounding and confining the lower portion of said cushioning member and a countersunk central portion" to receive the countersunk portion of said cushioning member and forming an exterior socket, the edge of said cap being spaced from the end of the furniture leg and thereby leaving the upper portion of the side surface of the cushioning member exposed, said cap being also pro vided with a central aperture, and a securing member adapted to be passed through said aperture and the bore of said cushioning member into the furniture leg, the head of said securing member being seated in the exterior socket of said cap and lying above the annular bearing portion thereof.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand.

JOSEPH E. BATTEY. Witnesses:

ELBERT L. HYDE, WILLIAM B. WHARTON. 

